Sunday, January 26, 2014

ForChristSake-Death is But A Breath Away

Self-Release/Independent2010

No label? No problem! In what would prove to be just the first step of many taken by this extreme metal band from Northern Ireland, the (then) five-piece band known as ForChristSake self-released their debut EP, "Death is But A Breath Away". Fronted by lead vocalist/keyboardist Guy, with all of the lyrics and music written-by the pair of Ignatios (drums & vocals) and Seraphim (guitar & vocals), this Christ-first/death metal-second act might have wore their faith on their sleeves, but, given the fact that it was being backed up by some of the most brutal and extreme metal out there, it was presented in such a fashion as to reach every corner of every pit whether in their home country or world-wide! "Heavy for Christ" is a battle-cry that I've heard, or rather have felt and laid witness to, many times over from my first "real" Christian metal concert "experience" (Deliverance w/ Sacrament) up to and including now (with Christian heavy metal and thrash at an all time high, quality-wise and availability-wise, there is no longer the tired old stigma of "this band is just a Christian version of this band, etc." that haunted it for far too many years). Still, I fail (epically!) in my attempted rummaging through my warn-out memory banks to find any Christian band as destructive on tape as this bunch! While it's not strictly death metal we are talking about with these four tracks, as there is plenty of black metal and thrash metal to be found within a release like "Death is But A Breath Away", it's probably the best starting point from which to jump when chatting about this (soon-to-be) Roxx Records act! Other then lead vocalist/keyboardist Guy the same bunch that recorded this EP appears on their recently-released full-length debut album, "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror". Having heard their Roxx Records full-length debut release first though, which you can read all about at the link pasted below, it's somewhat interesting walking backwards to this short recording. But, other then the switching-up of the vocal duties between releases this is the same crushing entity that blew me away with "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror". So, if you've heard their first and liked it then you'll no doubt like this EP. That's not to say that there hasn't been growth as there certainly has been. This is almost a case of addition by subtraction as I actually prefer the vocals on ForChristSake's new LP more then I do on this 2010 EP. Also, the band seems to have tightened up all of the various lose edges and made more then a few steps toward being more technically-sound. But of course that's what is supposed to happen when you grow as a band and have a few years between releases. All of which means exactly what in the end? Well, if I was going to give out an album to a fan and fellow lover of all things extreme metal (as a "Hey, have you heard this new extreme metal band from Northern Ireland yet?") I would definitely go with "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror". That seems fairly obvious right? But, after letting them soak up the awesomeness of "Apocalyptic Visions of Divine Terror" I would slide them this EP in an ever-so-cool manor and say "If you thought the full-length debut from this gnarly bunch was wicked wait until you listen to this raw beast of an EP!!!!!".http://metalmark.blogspot.com/search?q=ForChristSake-Apocalyptic+Visions+of+Divine+Terror+

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-Mike